Devices for improved evacuation of ingredient containers

ABSTRACT

The ingredient bag assembly of the present disclosure includes a bin, an ingredient bag, and a nozzle to extract a liquid or semi-solid ingredient from inside the bag. The bins of the present disclosure have a living spring, tilted bottom surface, or other insert that encourages the evacuation of the ingredient through the nozzle. The nozzles of the present disclosure can have shorter projections into the bin, to allow for additional ingredient to be extracted. The nozzles can also have one or more drain holes tooled therein, to further assist with evacuation.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to automated beverage dispensers. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to automated beverage dispensers having improved designs for evacuating or emptying ingredient pouches.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the field of automated beverage dispensers, a machine may have ice and flavor modules that dispense ice and a flavor to a cup placed in the machine. The flavors are often drawn from ingredient modules located away from the area where the flavors are added to the cup. A bag or other container can hold the flavor or ingredient, and it can be pumped or forced through tubing or other conduits to a dispensing area.

The ingredient bags may be large enough to last several hours or shifts, to reduce the number of times an operator has to change the bag out. Due to certain design conditions, the ingredient bags may be oriented in a way that prevents their complete evacuation. A significant amount of the ingredient may be left behind in the bag when it is no longer able to be pumped out. This obviously significantly increases the cost of providing the beverages, since an undesirable amount of the ingredient is wasted.

A current ingredient bag storage design is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and referenced by numeral 10. Bag storage assembly 10 has a storage bin 20, and an ingredient bag 30. Ingredient bag 30 has a nozzle 40 inserted through a fitting 35 in bag 30. Bag 30 typically stores a liquid or semi-solid ingredient for dispensing into a receptacle. When assembly 10 is used in a beverage machine, assembly 10 can be stacked in a cabinet or other storage area (not shown). Assembly 10 is placed in the cabinet so that bin 20 and bag 30 are aligned in a horizontal position. This arrangement helps to save space, and store multiple bags within one cabinet.

During operation of the beverage machine, a pump (not shown) can be in fluid communication with nozzle 40. By applying pressure to nozzle 40, ingredient is extracted from bag 30 through fitting 35 and out nozzle 40. As shown in FIG. 2, bin 20 is often stored at a slight incline to encourage the evacuation of the ingredient from bag 30. Current designs for nozzle 40 provide for an interior end 42 that extends at least one half or a full inch into bin 20. This leads to a condition where a certain amount of ingredient 32 stays in bag 30, which is obviously wasteful and undesirable. In addition, the incline of bin 20 is not usually enough to encourage the evacuation of all of the ingredient within bag 20, but due to space constraints, it is difficult to incline bin 20 at too steep of an angle.

Accordingly, there is a need to address these disadvantages of currently available devices.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure provides improved designs for storing ingredient bags, and devices for coercing the ingredient to evacuate the bag almost fully. In one embodiment, the ingredient bags are stored in bins that have a “living spring”. This living spring is an insert that can be placed in a bin under the ingredient bag. The living spring is under tension. As the ingredient bag is emptied, it weighs less, and the spring pushes up on the ingredient bag. This forces the remaining ingredient in the bag toward an exit point of the bag. The bins of the present disclosure can also have other devices or attachments to coerce the ingredient out of the bag.

The present disclosure also provides improved nozzles for extracting the ingredient from the bag. Each bag and storage tray can be fitted with the nozzle, which can be an elongated tube with a hollow interior. One end is inserted into the ingredient bag, and the other can be connected to a conduit or tube that leads to a pump. The improved nozzles of the present disclosure have shorter dimensions than currently available devices, which helps to extract more ingredient from the bag. The nozzles of the present disclosure can also can have features such as tapered edges or additional puncture holes along its length, to improve the extraction.

As used in the present disclosure, the term “ingredient bag” refers to any container that can store a liquid or semi-solid for addition to a beverage. In one embodiment, the ingredient bag is a flexible bag made of thin film plastic, with or without a metal foil reinforcement. However, the present disclosure considers that other types of containers may be used to store beverage ingredients therein, such as rigid plastic containers.

The term “nozzle” refers to a cylindrical device with an elongated (i.e., longitudinal) axis and a hollow interior, that allows for fluid communication with tubing or a pump and the interior of the ingredient bag. When pressure or gravity is applied to one end of the nozzle, ingredient can be extracted from the bag through the other end of the nozzle. Other terms such as “cannula” or “tubing” may be used to describe the nozzle of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a top view of an ingredient bag assembly according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the ingredient bag assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a rear, perspective view of an ingredient bag assembly of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a top, perspective view of a bin and insert of the ingredient bag assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a top, perspective view of an insert used in the ingredient bag assembly of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5a shows a side view of the insert of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5b shows a rear view of the insert of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5c shows a top view of the insert of FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 shows a rear view of an ingredient bag assembly of the present disclosure, in stacked arrangement with other ingredient bag assemblies.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the ingredient bag assembly of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 shows a top, perspective view of a nozzle of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a rear view of the nozzle of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of the nozzle of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the nozzle of FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 shows a top, perspective view of a second embodiment of a bin of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12a shows a front view of the bin of FIG. 12.

FIG. 12b shows a top view of the bin of FIG. 12.

FIG. 12c shows a cross-sectional view of the bin of FIG. 12, taken along line A-A of FIG. 12 b.

FIG. 12d shows a cross-sectional view of the bin of FIG. 12, taken along line B-B of FIG. 12 b.

FIG. 13 shows a top, perspective view of the bin of FIG. 12, with an added insert.

FIG. 14 shows a front, perspective view of the bin of FIG. 12, with an ingredient bag placed therein.

FIG. 15 shows a top, perspective view of a third embodiment of a bin according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows a top view of a second embodiment of an ingredient bag according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 shows a top, perspective view of a second embodiment of a nozzle of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 shows a top, perspective view of a third embodiment of a nozzle of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Referring to the drawings, and in particular FIGS. 3-11, an ingredient bag assembly of the present disclosure is shown and referred to by numeral 110. Assembly 110 has storage bin 120, ingredient bag 130, and nozzle 140 (FIG. 7). Advantageously, assembly 110 can also have a living spring 126 that encourages easy evacuation of ingredient within bag 130, without sacrificing the advantages afforded by the horizontal orientation of bin 110 and bag 130. Nozzle 140 is also improved over prior art designs. A first end 142 is inserted into fitting 135 of bag 130 to extract ingredient. First end 142 is shorter than currently available nozzles, which allows for more ingredient to be extracted. Assembly 110 can have living spring 126 and improved nozzle 140 together. Alternatively, assembly 110 can have only the improved nozzle 140, or only living spring 126, with a more standard length nozzle. The choice will depend on the type of application and the particular design parameters needed.

Bin 120 has three side walls 122, front wall 123, and a bottom surface 124 that surround and hold bag 130. Bag 130 is placed in bin 120, on top of living spring 126. The tension in living spring 126 can be such that the weight of ingredient bag 120 forces spring 126 into a substantially flat position when bag 120 is full (although it is not necessary that spring 126 be flat to function). As ingredient is evacuated from bag 120, the tension in spring 126 becomes stronger than the weight of bag 120, and spring 126 eases bag 120 upward from one direction. This forces the ingredient in bag 120 to migrate toward front wall 123, fitting 135, and nozzle 140, as discussed in greater detail below. Thus, more ingredient is evacuated than in current designs, where the ingredient is not forced to a front of the bag by gravity and/or the force of a spring, and may be beyond the reach of the nozzle. As shown in FIG. 6, spring 126 does not affect the ability to stack multiple ingredient bag assemblies 110 on top of one another. It provides for increased efficiency and reduced cost without sacrificing convenience.

Spring 126 is advantageous in that it is very easy-to-manufacture. While spring 126 is an extra component to assembly 110, it can be very easily connected to bin 120. As shown in FIG. 5, spring 126 can have a first end 127 that is connected to bottom surface 124 of bin 120. The connection can be a snap-fit, or first end 127 can have a hook that connects around an edge of bottom surface 124. Spring 126 can also be loosely placed within bin 120. These are removable connections that can be suitable for a retrofit of an existing bin 120. The present disclosure also contemplates that spring 126 can be permanently connected to bin 120, and be molded, welded, or formed as one piece.

Spring 126 can have one or more segmented portions 128, for example two or more segmented portions 128. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5-5 c, there are six segmented portions 128. Spring 126 can also have a continuous, arcuate profile. Spring 126 can be made of any suitable or safe material for food beverage machines, such as food-grade plastics or metals. One suitable material for bin 120 and spring 126 is a polycarbonate plastic, one of which is sold under the Lexan™ brand name.

As shown in FIGS. 8-11, nozzle 140 has first end 142, second end 144, and central through passage 146. As described above, first end 142 is inserted into ingredient bag 130 through fitting 135. A pump (not shown) can be connected to second end 146. When the pump applies pressure, ingredient is dawn through the opening in first end 142, through passage 146, and out through second end 144. Ingredient can also be extracted with gravity. As shown, first end 142 can have a tapered thickness or diameter that reduces in a direction moving from a central ridge 148 toward the tip of first end 142. First end 142 can also have a constant diameter along its length.

Nozzle 140 can also have a central ridge 148 that mates with fitting 135 of bag 130. Bin 120 can have a notch or groove 129 on one of side walls 122, where fitting 135 and ridge 148 can be secured when connected to one another. A lip or ridge 145 on second end 144 can help with connection to the pump. When spring 126 lifts bag 130 in the manner described above, it forces an ingredient therein in a direction of the side wall 122 where notch 129, fitting 135, and nozzle 140 are located.

Advantageously, while connected to bag 130, first end 142 of nozzle only projects from front wall 123 for a short length (FIG. 7). This length L can be 0.375 (three-eighths) inches or less, or any subranges therebetween. This allows for improved evacuation of the ingredient in bag 130, whether nozzle 140 is used in conjunction with spring 126 or not. It was previously believed that nozzles with longer ends were needed, to avoid leakage and to provide additional mechanical stability in assembly 110. The present disclosure has gone against this conventional wisdom.

Referring to FIGS. 12-14, an alternative design of the bin of the present disclosure is shown, and referred to by reference numeral 220. Bin 220 is similar to bin 110, and has three side walls 222, and a front wall 223. In Bin 220, however, bottom surface 224 is slanted toward front wall 223, at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane that defined by the tops of side walls 222. Thus, when bag 230 is placed within bin 220, the incline of bottom surface 224 forces the ingredient toward front wall 223, where a nozzle 140 can be connected at notch 229. In this manner, the incline of bottom surface assists in the evacuation of ingredient from bag 130.

As described above, in beverage dispensing machines, several assemblies 100 may be stacked one on top of one another. When the ingredient in bag 130 is forced toward the front of bin 220, bag 130 may bulge near front wall 223. This could potentially interfere with a neighboring bin above bin 220. Thus, in some embodiments, it may be useful to include a cover 260 (FIGS. 13 and 14) that can be placed over the top of bin 220, to flatten any bulge in bag 130. Cover 260 can be made of any material strong enough to with stand the pressure applied by bag 130. Cover 260 can be snap-fitted and thus removably connected to bin 220, or can be permanently connected as well.

Referring to FIG. 15, an additional embodiment of a bin of the present disclosure is shown, and referred to by numeral 320. Bin 320 has three side walls 322, a front wall 323, a bottom surface 324, and an insert 360. Insert 360 can have a first sloped side 362, a second sloped side 364, and a central groove or bottom 366. Sides 362 and 364 are sloped in toward groove 366. In addition, insert 360 can be inclined with respect to bin 320. Thus, when a bag 130 is placed within bin 320, the ingredient within the bag is encouraged to flow toward the middle of bin 320, along groove 366, and down toward front wall 323 and notch 329. Nozzle 140 can be used to connect to bag 130 in the manner described above.

In the shown embodiment, insert 360 is a separately formed or molded piece that is dropped or placed in bin 320. However, bottom surface 324 of bin 320 can also be formed with sloped sides that mimic sloped sides 362 and 364 of insert 360. In this latter embodiment, bin 320 would be one integral piece with a sloped bottom surface 324, where ingredient bag is also encouraged to flow toward a middle portion of bottom surface 324, and toward front wall 323.

Referring to FIG. 16, an additional embodiment of an ingredient bag of the present disclosure is shown and referred to by numeral 230. Bag 230 is very similar to bag 130, and functions in a similar manner, with the exception that bag 230 has two tapered front edges 232. Front edges 232 are tapered in a direction of the front of the bag, near fitting 235. As with bag 130 described above, nozzle 140 or the other nozzles described below can be connected to fitting 235, to extract ingredient. Thus, as compared to the generally rectangular or square shape of bag 130, bag 232 has a pentagonal or “home plate” shape to it. This can help to encourage ingredient toward fitting 235, for improved extraction of ingredient.

Referring to FIG. 17, an alternative embodiment of the nozzle of the present disclosure is shown, and referred to by reference number 240. Nozzle 240 performs in a similar manner as nozzle 40 described above. Nozzle 240 has an additional drain hole 241 along a first end 242 that is inserted into bag 130. When drain hole 241 is properly aligned facing in a downward direction, it can provide an additional avenue for ingredient to leave bag 130. Nozzle 240 requires an operator to properly align it with drain hole 241 facing downward, but is advantageous in that only involves a relative easy modification to existing nozzles.

Referring to FIG. 18, a third embodiment of the nozzle of the present disclosure is shown, and referred to by numeral 340. Nozzle 340 also operates in a similar fashion to nozzle 40, but it is fluted, meaning that it has one or more drain holes 341 along a length of first end 342. In addition, there can be one or more of drain holes 342 at several different angles around the circumference of first end 342. For example, nozzle 340 can have two rows of two or more drain holes 341 at one-hundred-eighty degree angles to one another, or four rows of two or more drain holes 341 at ninety degree angles to one another.

The present disclosure contemplates that any of the bins, any of the bags, and any of the nozzles described herein can be used in ingredient bag assembly 110. For example, any of bins 20, 120, 220, and 320 can be used, any of bags 130 or 230 can be used, and any of nozzles 40, 140, 240, and 340 can be used. As discussed above, an assembly of the present disclosure can include one of the improved bin designs described above (i.e., bins 120, 220, 320), with a currently available or conventional nozzle 40. Any of the improved nozzle designs of the present disclosure (i.e. nozzles 140, 240, or 340) may also be used with a standard or conventional bin 20. In one preferred embodiment, assembly 110 comprises bin 120, bag 130, and nozzle 140.

Sample Test Data

Generally speaking, the more viscous the ingredient to be extracted, the more severe the problem with leftover/remnant product is. As examples, lemonade, mocha, and frappe flavors have lower viscosities, and thus present less of a challenge with leftover ingredient. Flavors such as strawberry banana, blueberry pomegranate, and mango pineapple are some flavors with higher viscosities.

The data discussed below is in reference to the strawberry banana flavor, because it has the highest viscosity of currently used ingredients. However, the advantages of the features discussed in the present specification will show improved results for all flavors, no matter the viscosity.

To determine how much bins 120, 220, and 320, and nozzles 140, 240, and 340 improve performance and efficiency, a series of tests were conducted. A full bag 130 contains approximately two gallons of ingredient, which in this test weighed two-hundred-fifty-six ounces. From this amount, six ounce drinks of product were dispensed until “sputtering” of ingredient bag 130 was observed, indicating that the bag 130 was exhausted. At this point, any residual product in bag 130 was weighed (in ounces).

With a standard bin 20 and standard nozzle 40, there were sixteen ounces of residual product left in the bag. This meant that there was a total amount of waste of approximately 6.25%.

By contrast, with bin 120 of the present disclosure, including spring 126, and a standard, long nozzle 40, there was approximately 9.1 ounces of product left behind in the bag, which is only a waste percentage of approximately 3.5%. With bin 220 and standard nozzle 40, there were approximately 9.5 ounces left in the bag for a waste percentage of approximately 3.7%, while with bin 320 and standard nozzle 40, there were approximately 7.7 ounces left in the bag, for a waste percentage of approximately 3.0%. These three results represent a clear savings over currently available ingredient storage bins.

For the nozzles, all of the following data were collected using bin 120, with spring 126. For nozzle 140, with the shorter projection into bin 120, the remaining product weighed 6.6 ounces, or 2.6% waste. With the “bottom hole” nozzle 240, there were 6.3 ounces left in bag 130, or 2.5% waste. With the “fluted” nozzle 340, there were 7.5 ounces of product left in the ingredient bag 130, or 2.9% waste. Accordingly, the improved nozzles of the present disclosure provide significantly improved bag evacuation values, and thus significant savings.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes can be made and equivalents can be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope thereof. In addition, many modifications can be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure. 

1. An ingredient bag assembly, comprising: a bin, having three side walls, a front wall, and a bottom surface; a bag in said bin, said bag having an interior space, and an ingredient in said interior space; a nozzle having a central passage therethrough, wherein said nozzle is connected to said bag so that said central passage is in fluid communication with said interior space, so that said ingredient may be extracted from said bag via said central passage; and a flexible spring between said bag and said bottom surface of said bin, wherein said flexible spring is under tension, so that it applies upward pressure on said bag, in a direction away from said bottom surface.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said nozzle has a first end that projects into said bin at said is front wall, wherein said first end projects from said front wall to a distance of less than 0.375 inches.
 3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said bag has a fitting on a surface thereof, and wherein said nozzle is connected to said fitting.
 4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said nozzle has at least a first end that projects into said bin, wherein said first end has at least one through hole in an outer surface of said first end, wherein said through hole is in fluid communication with said interior space of said bag.
 5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein said at least one through hole is on a bottom surface of said nozzle, adjacent to said bottom surface of said bin.
 6. The assembly of claim 4, wherein said at least one through hole is a plurality of through holes, wherein said plurality of through holes are on separate locations around an external circumference of said first end of said nozzle.
 7. An ingredient bag assembly, comprising: a bin, having three side walls, a front wall, and a bottom surface; a bag in said bin, said bag having an interior space, and an ingredient in said interior space; a nozzle having a central passage therethrough, wherein said nozzle is connected to said bag so that said central passage is in fluid communication with said interior space, so that said ingredient may be extracted via said central passage, wherein said nozzle has a first end that projects into said bin at said front wall, wherein said first end projects from said front wall less than 0.375 inches.
 8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said bottom surface is inclined in a direction toward said front wall of said bin.
 9. The assembly of claim 7, further comprising a v-shaped insert between said bag and said bottom surface of said bin, wherein said v-shaped insert has two sloped edges inclined toward a center of said bin.
 10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said v-shaped insert is further inclined toward said front wall of said bin. 